Question

Sarah bought 12 feet or fabric that was 2 1/3 feet wide to make curtains. She used 1/4 of the fabric to make a long set of curtains and the rest to make 5 short sets. Find the area of the fabric she used for each of the sets.

Answer 1

Explanation:

If Sarah bought 12 feet of fabric that was 2 1/3 feet wide to make curtains, this means that the area of the fabric she used for the long set of curtains would be:

$12\text{ x 2}\frac{1}{3}\text{ = 12 x }\frac{7}{3}\text{ = 28 ft}^2$

Now, if 1/4 of the fabric is 28, then 3/4 would be 84. Now, according to the problem, she used 1/4 of the fabric to make a long set of curtains and the rest to make 5 short sets. Then, 84 ÷ 5 = 16.8, or equivalently:

$\frac{84}{5}=16\frac{4}{5}$

then, the area of the fabric she used for each of the short sets would be:

$16\frac{4}{5}$

we can conclude that the correct answer is:

Answer:the area of the fabric she used for the long set of curtains is:$\text{ 28 ft}^2$the area of the fabric she used for each of the short sets is:

$16\frac{4}{5}\text{ ft}^2\text{ = }\frac{84}{5}\text{ ft}^2$